Surprisingly Useful AI Article Enhancements
Apple has introduced the next generation of Apple Intelligence, built on a new architecture that integrates the latest Apple Foundation Models into its platforms and is designed to protect user privacy.
The update brings AI-driven features across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, with changes spanning Photos, Safari, Passwords, Image Playground, Messages, Mail, Shortcuts and accessibility tools.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, framed the approach as being rooted in user needs.
“Truly helpful AI must be centred on our users’ needs, deeply integrated into the products they rely on every day, grounded in personal context and built with privacy at every step,” Federighi explained. “That is our vision for Apple Intelligence. With useful features for browsing the web, expressing creativity, editing photos and so much more, this marks a big step forward on our journey to integrate AI into the core of our platforms and make our products even more personal and useful.”
The next generation of Apple Intelligence also underpins Siri AI, an entirely new version of Siri described as a more personal, capable and conversational assistant. Siri AI offers a dedicated app along with integrated tools for writing and Visual Intelligence across platforms. Siri can help users search for information across their messages, emails and photos, answer questions on a range of topics and take action in apps. Siri AI features will be available as a beta to users later this year.
Photo editing
The Photos app taps into updated image models so users can make edits while respecting the original moment as it was captured. Photos adjusted with Apple Intelligence will automatically include a hidden SynthID watermark to identify those that have been edited with AI.
With Spatial Reframing, users can improve the composition of a photo after it has been taken. The feature builds on Apple’s work with spatial models through Apple Vision Pro, allowing users to touch and drag a photo and preview in real time how the perspective shifts, as if they had repositioned the camera in the original scene. Spatial Reframing only generates new content where the perspective has been shifted, keeping the reframed photo consistent with the original scene.
Users can also expand images with the Extend tool to give their subjects more room. For example, they can straighten a crooked horizon without cropping out anything important, or adjust the aspect ratio, and Extend will fill in the missing areas.
The Clean Up tool has also been updated, allowing users to remove distractions with improved quality and more realistic infill, even when the scene is complex.
Safari and Passwords
New AI-driven tools change how users can browse the web in Safari. The intelligence in Safari is built with privacy in mind, delivering capabilities without exposing personal browsing data to anyone, including Apple.
Safari can now simplify multi-tab browsing by automatically organising a user’s tabs into relevant topics. For example, if a user is planning a weekend trip, Safari can bring together their travel-planning tabs into one topic. As users browse, Safari will continue to organise new tabs into existing topics or create new ones.
With Notify Me, users can ask Safari to monitor a web page for changes, such as product restocks or price drops, so they can stay on top of updates they care about. Users can specify what they are looking for, and when Safari detects a change, they receive a notification.
Building on its ability to alert users about weak and compromised passwords, Passwords can now automatically fix these with a single tap. Using Apple Intelligence and Safari to take action on a user’s behalf, Passwords navigates through websites to sign in and upgrade accounts to strong passwords.
With Describe an Extension, users can create custom Safari extensions by describing what they want. Safari then generates the custom extension in the toolbar, such as adding a button to save and rate recipes.
Image Playground
Image Playground now offers new ways for users to create images. Users can generate high-quality images in a range of styles, now including photorealistic output thanks to a new generative model that runs on Private Cloud Compute. Generated images will automatically include a hidden SynthID watermark to identify them as AI-generated.
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Image Playground allows users to modify images by describing the changes they want to make, or by tapping, circling or brushing to highlight an object to move or resize it.
Users also have new ways to use the images they create. In addition to Messages, Image Playground can now be used to generate Lock Screen wallpapers and Contact Posters. Users can also choose the aspect ratio for their work, such as a landscape image for a website or a portrait image for a flyer.
Communication and scheduling
New Apple Intelligence features help users manage their communication by surfacing relevant information when they need it.
Messages now offers one-tap suggestions based on the context of conversations, making it easier to create a reminder or a note. For example, if someone asks for photos, Messages can help users find the right ones, recognising keywords, locations and people in their library. Suggestions in Mail are also gaining the ability to take action with third-party apps, and Smart Reply in Mail and Messages can now draw on a user’s personalised writing style.
When users call a business, Call Context surfaces relevant information, such as a confirmation code or reservation number, directly in the Phone app. For example, if a user calls an airline to change a flight, the Phone app can automatically find their confirmation code in Mail. Call Context looks at who the user is calling, not what they are saying, and runs entirely on device.
Apple Intelligence also makes it possible to add or modify events in Calendar by describing the event. As users type, Calendar identifies contacts and locations and creates a title for the event.
Shortcuts
With Describe a Shortcut, users can now create Shortcuts by describing what they want and having Apple Intelligence assemble the required steps. If a user sees something they need to tweak or add, they can describe their change and the Shortcuts app makes adjustments.
For example, a user can describe a shortcut to set their morning alarm each evening based on their first Calendar event the next day, automatically open productivity apps with a specific window arrangement when they connect their iPad to their Magic Keyboard, or turn on porch lights at night when they receive a notification that their food delivery is arriving.
Home app
Apple Intelligence brings updates to accessory notifications and new capabilities for HomeKit Secure Video cameras.
The Home app draws on Apple Intelligence to understand related notifications as a single activity, so users receive one notification that updates as the activity happens.
With generated video descriptions, users can understand what happened across a sequence of video clips without watching them. They can also search through camera clips to find specific events like a package delivery. At the top of the Search page, the Home app highlights noteworthy clips that users may want to review.
Accessibility
Apple Intelligence brings updates to accessibility tools that many users rely on every day.
VoiceOver now provides richer descriptions of images for users who are blind or have low vision. With updates to Live Recognition, users can press the Action button on iPhone to ask questions about their surroundings and get detailed responses. In Magnifier, Apple Intelligence brings the same assistive exploration to a high-contrast interface designed for users who have low vision.
Voice Control, which lets users navigate iPhone and iPad entirely by voice, has been updated so users can describe onscreen buttons and controls instead of memorising exact labels or numbers. Voice Control with Apple Intelligence will be available in English in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
Accessibility Reader, which offers a customised reading experience for users with a range of disabilities, now works on more complex source material and can provide on-demand summaries and translation.
Other features
Automatic proofreading provides improved suggestions for spelling and grammar as users type across the system. Users can also get intelligent suggestions for names of files and folders based on their contents.
Workout Buddy is now available in Spanish and can be used on Apple Watch without an iPhone nearby. Workout Buddy also incorporates more fitness data when delivering motivational insights. Genmoji has been updated with improved quality and lets users describe the changes they want to make.
Privacy architecture
The new capabilities are built on the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, custom-built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models for integrated Apple Intelligence experiences. The latest models run on device and on servers using Private Cloud Compute.
Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute to protect user privacy. Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy and security model of iPhone into the cloud.
When Private Cloud Compute is handling users’ requests, personal data is not stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else. Outside experts can continue to verify this privacy commitment at any time.
Availability
The new features are available for testing through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com, with a public beta available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. Features will be available to users this spring with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27.
Apple Intelligence is available with support for English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. For more details, visit apple.com/au/apple-intelligence.
Apple Intelligence is available on iPhone 16 models or later, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), iPad models with M1 or later, MacBook Neo (A18 Pro), Mac models with M1 or later, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch Series 10 or later, Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later and Apple Watch SE 3 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone nearby.
Some features, including image generation, have daily usage limits due to reliance on server models. Increased access is available with most iCloud+ subscription plans, which also include Apple Intelligence support for compatible Home cameras.
Siri AI will be available as a beta later this year for users with a supported device set to English. Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro users in the EU will be able to access Siri AI when set to a supported language, though Siri AI will not be available initially in the EU in iOS and iPadOS. Siri AI and other new Apple Intelligence features will not be available in China while Apple works through regulatory requirements.
Last Updated on June 9, 2026 by Nick Ross
